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SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



Committee on the Territories, 

Thursday^ May i, 1902. 

A .subcommittee of the Committee on the Territories this day met. 
Hon. John A. Moon in the chair. 

The subcommittee had under consideration House bill y976, intro- 
duced by Mr. Sulzer, entitled "A bill to encourage salmon culture in 
Alaska, and for the protection of persons engaged in the production 
thereof. " 

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM SULZER. 

Mr. Sulzer. Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the committee, as I 
have previously appeared before and addressed the committee at length 
regarding the bill under consideration which 1 introduced on the 23d 
day of January, 1902, entitled ''A bill to encourage salmon culture in 
Alaska, and for the protection of persons engaged in the production 
thereof," and as the bill has been printed in the Record, and I have 
addressed the House in regard to it, I shall be very brief in what I say 
at this time to the subcommittee, especially as there are several gen- 
tlemen present more familiar with the subject who wish to be heard, 
and whom I shall take great pleasure in introducing to this subcommittee. 

This bill, gentlemen, as I have previousl}- stated, is for the protec- 
tion of the salmon of Alaska and to prevent their extermination. It 
is well known by those who have studied this matter that unless there 
is some legislation to artificially propagate the salmon it is only a ques- 
tion of time when the .salmon in Alaska will become extinct. Those 
who do this at their own expense should be protected. 

The salmon industry is one of the great industries in Alaska. A 
great many canneries have been established there, are being estab- 
lished there, and will continue to be established. At the present time 
millions of dollars are invested. The product of these canneries is one 
of the most valua])le products of the district and one of the great 
products of this country. It foots up every year into millions and 
millions of dollars. Besides the monetary question involved in this 
matter as an industr^^ of the United States, the great point that I wish 
to make is this: 1 am in favor of protecting the iish and game of 
America, and 1 have always, since I have been a legislator, in my State 
and here in Washington, done all that I could to accomplish that pur- 
pose. It is a sad commentary on our civilization that ))y reason of our 
lack of judgmentarfid foresight wc Jitvve ^lloT/ed.'the most valuable fish 



2 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. ' l^ ^ 

of the Atlantic to be exterminated, and we have allowed the larger 
wild animals of our country to l)ecome practically extinct. In Alaska 
the salmon industry 

Mr. Lloyd. Just at that point; you have been in Alaska and investi- 
gated this matter yourself { 

Mr. SuLZER. Yes; I have made two trips to Alaska and have quite 
thoroughly investigated this matter. The salmon industr}- is to-day 
one of the great industries of that great country, and outside of the 
mineral industry it is the greatest and I believe the most valuable. 

Mr. Lloyd. In addition to that you have some personal interest in it? 

Mr. SuLZER. Not at all. I have absolutely no personal interest in 
the matter other than as a believer in the theory, which is growing 
every day, that it is the duty of one generation to protect the natural 
food products for the next generation. I believe it is incumbent on 
us to protect the tish and game of our country for future generations. 
I believe we will be derelict in our duty to posterity if we fail to do 
this. Another thing, I am a disciple of Sir Izaak Walton, and a true 
friend of the wild tish and game. I protest against their wanton 
slaughter. While in Alaska I visited several of the big canneries and 
I am familiar with their operation. I have seen the way the tish are 
caught, prepared, and canned. I have also visited several of the hatch- 
eries there and witnessed the way the salmon can be propagated, so 
that if the Government in some way will protect the people who are 
propagating salmon the tish will never become exterminated, and the 
supply, instead of diminishing, will undoubtedly be increased. 

Of course, we know that canned salmon is one of the staple diets of 
the world, and 1 believe nine-tenths of the supply of the world is pro- 
duced by the canneries of Alaska. 1 believe the statistics will show 
that for the last ten years the value of the supply of canned salmon 
that comes from Alaska will amount to several million dollars a year, 
and it will probably average a great deal more in the years to come 
because new canneries are being estal)lished all the time. 

This bill is intended to give a little protection to the men who are 
willing to invest their money in salmon fish hatcheries in Alaska for 
the purpose of propagating the salmon and increasing the supply, 
giving these men the privilege of catching part of the salmon that 
will come back 

Mr. Lloyd. What is a hatchery? 

Mr. SuLZER. A salmon hatchery is a place where young salmon are 
artificially propagated. It is man aiding nature. The spawn are 
planted and protected; they soon develop, and these little fish grow,, 
and then go out to sea after eight or nine months, and in nine, ten,, 
or eleven years these same salmon return, it is claimed, to the very 
place where they were hatched. 

Mr. Lloyd. It is a place where they are impounded? 

Mr. SuLZER. Yes; a place where they are hatched, cared for, and 
protected until they are ready to go to "^sea to come back after many 
years to spawn and die. 

There is a gentleman here. Capt. John C. Callbreath, of Alaska, who 
has been experimenting wHth a salmon hatchery for a number of years, 
and he is more familiar wdth this su])ject than I am; hence I do not 
care to take up the time of the connnittee in going into the details of 
the matter. I fully explained to the committee the last time I was 
here that the salmon of Alaskg,,ai;e different in their habits of life 



CV 



-0 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 3 

^ from the salmon of luiv other country in the world. They only spawn 
*^ oiiee and then they die. They are born, and after eight, nine, or ten 
months they go out to sea. We know not where they go. The^' are 
•never caught in the ocean. They must go to and live in deep water, 
because they are never seen in the ocean. It is believed the}- come 
back after eight, nine, or ten years to the place of their birth, and the 
moment they spawn they die. so if the salmon are not protected by 
this method of artificial propagation it is only a question of time Avhen 
tbev must ))e exterminated if the canneries continue business. They 
have been exterminated on the Atlantic coast, with the exception, I 
believe, of one river in Maine, and in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, 
and Labrador. 

Mr. Powers. We get them, in the Kennebec and the Penol)scot 
rivers, where they run up quite freely. 

Mr. SuLZER. Two rivers, then, in Maine. On the Pacific coast they 
are practically exterminated in California, Oregon, and Washington, 
and the}" will be exterminated in Alaska unless the Congress does 
something to prevent it. I think my bill will accomplish what is 
desired. The bill has been carefully considered and carefully pre- 
pared l)v gentlemen thoroughl}" familiar with the subject. It must be 
apparent that such a bill as this ought to pass. Now, gentlemen, that 
is about all I care to say at this time 

Mr. Powers. Let me ask you one or two questions in reference to 
the scope of the bill. I see the purpose is to grant the right — 

That any person or persons heretofore or hereafter authorized to estabhsh or main- 
tain a hatchery for the artificial Droduction of sahiion in the district of Alaska shall 
be entitled to the exclusive right of all fish that such hatchery may produce in excess 
of the normal product of such streams for a distance of 1 mile in all directions in tide 
water from the mouth of the stream upon which such hatchery may be located. 

There is no limitation there as to time, and I just jotted this down. 
What do you think of adding another section — 

that all rights and privileges granted hy this bill are subject to the supervision and 
regulation and repeal by Congress? 

We have a general statute in my State that makes everything in that 
wa}". This seems to grant an absolute right without any end to it. 

Mr. SuLZER. Just a word in that regard. The provisions of this 
bill give no monopoly to any individual or individuals or any company 
or corporation. The bill does not give exclusive rights. It gives cer- 
tain rights. 

Mr. Powers. That gives them about a thirty years' lease? 

Mr. SuLZER. Well, about twenty years. 

Mr. Lloyd. As I understand, the history of the salmon is that there 
is no question but they return to the place where born. 

Mr. SuLZER. Yes; it is believed they return to the same place where 
they were born. So far as Alaska is concerned, I am informed it has 
been demonstrated they return in from eight to eleven years. 

Mr. Lloyd. I have a curiosity to know how they determine the}' are 
the same salmon ? 

Mr. SuLZER. I believe they mark the young fish when they go out 
to sea. When the young salmon are 8, 9, 10, or 11 months old 
they leave the little stream or lake in which they were born and 
start out for the ocean. They go out in schools and keep in schools. 
A few are marked, and they have been known to return. But, after 
all, little is known of their lives and habits. It is a great studv. 



4 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Powers. They are about that long- [illu.strating]. 

Mr. SuLZER. Yes; and it is said they take and mark them then so 
the}" know and can tell the exact sahnon when it comes back. 

Now, gentlemen, just a few words more. This bill is not in the 
interest of the canneries, although in my judgment it would help and 
not hurt the canneries. I am informed that they have no ol>jection 
to this bill. After careful stud}', it is my opinion that if this l)ill 
should become a law it will do more to perpetuate and increase the 
.salmon than anything else that we can do at this time. 

I sa\' further, this bill gives no exckisive rights, no monopoly to 
anyone. It is a fair, just, and conservative bill, and ought to pass. 
If any member can suggest amendments that will improve it in any 
way I shall be glad to accept them. Another thing, this ])il] provides 
that nothing contained in it shall in any way prevent line or Hv fishing 
by tourists, sportsmen, or persons who go to Alaska, or anyone in 
Alaska. It also provides that the Indians, or natives of Alaska, can 
catch the salmon for food, or for drying for Avinter use as food for 
themselves and their families. Hence, taking it all in all. I believe 
this bill is a very fair and a very just bill in the interest of one of our 
great industries, which, if not protected l)v a law similar to this ])ill, 
will ere long be destroyed, the greatest tish in the world exterminated, 
and one of the great staple diets of civilization eliminated. 

Mr. Powers. Another question. Under the lirst section of this 1)111 
it evidently creates no monopoly and says: "'x^ny person who may here- 
after" do it, but when you read section seven in connection with that 
section it says: 

That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to grant leases iu accordance 
with the foregoing sections of this act, for a period not to exceed twenty years, etc. 

What do 3'ou sa}- to the Secretary of the Treasury after he grants a 
lease to a company having the right to grant another lease to another 
company on the same ground and territory ( 

Mr. SuLZER. Well, sir, the bill provides that can be done provided 
the stream produces a certain numl)er of tish. I think it says 10,t»(»0. 

Mr. Powers. Yes; but — 

before any lease shall be granted the party or parties making application therefor 
they shall accompany such application with i^roof sutiicient to estaljlish the normal 
product of such streams; and no person shall be entitled to more than one hatchery 
lease with the privilege of stocking more than three barren lakes or streams and 
being protected in the product thereof. 

And it says further on, ""On streams producing not more than ten 
thousand." That is not exactly my point. A man goes on and estab- 
lishes a hatcher}' under the lirst section of the bill and proves to the 
Secretar\' of the Treasury that the stream in its normal condition does 
not produce 10,0()() salmon per annum. The Secretary of the Treas- 
ur}' grants a lease for about thirty years. Now, another man desires 
to go and estaljlish a hatchery. Can he do it and get a lease after the 
first one? 

Mr. SuLZER. Certainly he can. 

Mr. Powers. The first section says so,- but I am not sure about that. 

Mr. SuLZER. He certainly can get a lease, but he can not catch lish 
unless the stream will produce more than 1<),()0(>. This 10,(JO0 refers 
to a stream which in its normal condition does not produce lO.oOO. 
In other words, it refers to barren streams. Take a stream where the 
fish grow, where they propagate themselves, there the Secretary of the 



• 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 5 

Treasury can o-raut leases to as many people as desire to establish 
hatcheries. 

Mr. Powers. The only reason I am asking the question is that I 
' have g'ot a little old Democratic prejudice against monopolies. 

Mr. SuLZER. So have I; we will never disagree concerning that 
proposition. 

Mr. Powers. That is what 1 am looking out for. 

Mr. SuxzER. So am 1: and I want to say this, that if this V)ill in any 
wav could be construed" in establishing a monopoly 1 would not have 
introduced it, and I would be absolutely opposed to it if anybody else 
had introduced it. 

]Mr. Powers, That is why I made the mere suggestion, that all 
rights and privileges gi'anted b}' this bill should be subject to the super- 
vision, regulation, and repeal by Congress, so if it was construed to add 
any kind of monopoly— — 

Mr. SuLZER. I am willing to accept that amendment. Gentlemen, 
I have occupied more time than I intended. Of course, I can discuss 
this matter at any time with you. V)ut these other gentlemen here can 
not. and 

Mr. Powers. I heard you upon this bill before, and 1 confess frankly 
I could not see any objections to the l^ill except the question of allow- 
ing Congress to retain the right of handling the whole thing. 

Mr. SuLZER. As I said. I have no objection to that. 

Gentlemen, I take pleasm-e in introducing to the committee Mr. 
John C. Callbreath, of Fort Wrangell, Alaska, who is perhaps more 
familiar with the subject-matter than any other man in the country. 

STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN C. CALLBREATH, OF FORT WRANGELL, 

ALASKA. 

Mr. Callbreath. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, 
my friend Mr. Sulzer has left ver^' little for me to say, I have jotted 
down some items here rather explanatory of the haltits of the salmon 
of Alaska, and the reason why this bill is necessary to preserve the 
salmon of Alaska. The proposed law simph^ gives to parties a legal 
right to property thev create from the wastes of nature at their own 
cost and without taking anything of value from the public domain. If 
thev produce ten where nature has produced but one, they surely 
should have the right to the increase. They also enrich the waters 
outside the protected zone b}^ thousands of fish that will be public 
property. Noav the propagator will not get all the tish — probably not 
more than one -half of the tish — outside of this protected zone. Others 
are there to take the tish, and everyone is free to take them, and inside 
the protected zone the normal quota of the stream is free toeverybod}^ 
until that amount is taken, ^^'hen the salmon commence to run, under 
the provision of this law, the public would have free access to catch 
those salmon up to the normal quota of the stream, and that quota 
must be established to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury before he will grant a lease by proof that can not be disputed. 

Mr. Lloyd. You mean the normal product must be 10,000? 

Mr. Callbreath. Manv streams are less than 10,000. If it is 10,000, 
it shall be at 10,000. If it is less than 10,000, it shall be estab- 
lished at what it is. No title in fee simple is asked, merelv a lease 
that need not be renewed unless the continuation should seem just and 



6 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

proper. No person or corporation will have a monopoly of any stream. 
All have equal rights as provided in section 5. And no individual can 
have more than one franchise, or corporation more than one for each 
cannery actuallv operated. The rights of Indians are more than pro- 
tected, as he has free access for food purposes to the artificial product, 
and in common with others to the normal product. 

Fishing with hook and line is free to all. Limiting hatcherv fran- 
chises to small producing streams will prevent clashing of interests, as 
streams producing ten thousand or less of the valuable redfish are 
considered of small value and are seldom fished by more than one 
party, while the large producers, running as high as two and a half 
million, are fished by several persons and corporations. The normal 
product might even be reduced to 5,000, which would still further 
limit the liabilit}* of conflict of interests. My own stream produces 
even less whei'e I am hatching, it is less than five thousand, and I think 
all parties should have the right to a stream running as high as ten 
thousand. Those who have already maintained hatcheries on streams 
producing large iuiml)ers should be protected in all fairness. Now, 
there are three diflerent parties that have been maintaining hatcheries 
for a number of years in Alaska on large producing streams. For 
instance, take the stream of Karluk. I presume the normal product 
would run close to 2.000.000. These 2,000.000 are the normal quota 
of the stream. Those 2.000.000 would be free for the public until 
they are all taken, and the propagator will never get any benefit of his 
propagation. Until the normal product are all taken parties who have 
started hatcheries on these large producing streams should in all fair- 
ness have the protection. 

Mr. Lloyd. Do I understand that a man who establishes a hatchery 
under this l)ill is to have no benefit at all until the fish return and thci^. 
shall have no benefit from their return except that which is in addition 
to what would be the normal product of the stream i 

Mr. Callbreath. That is right, sir. We do not ask for anything 
except that which we produce. The normal quota we leave free, and 
theA' should be f i-ee. Of course we would have the same rights as 
others to the normal product. 

Mr. Powers. There is another thing. I understand this bill does 
not establish any hatchei'v on any stream that now produces 10.000 
salmon a year;! 

Mr. Lloyd. J understand that, but I wanted to be clear about the 
other point. 

Mr. Callbreath. There are thousands of streams and lakes that are 
barren. That is something I must explain. These barren streams — 
I am sorr}' some of the gentlemen have not been in Alaska. ]\Ir. Sulzer 
has been there and can describe better than I can what barren streams 
mean — as you go along in Alaska you see falls on quite good- sized 
streams^ and back you will see a hollow where the contour of the 
mountains will show you there is a great lake there. Those lakes are 
entirely barren because nothing can get into them. I propose to stock 
those lakes, and those lakes would be included although a man has no 
hatcheiT on those lakes, and you could not have one there because 
there are no fish; but if he stocks it, although there is no hatchery, he 
shall be entitled to the fish when they come back. 

Mr. Lloyd. They would not come back. 

Mr. Powers. We do that in Maine, in a good many places we do 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. ( 

that identical thinf,. There is a ti.shway where the water comes over 
y^ry rapidly, and you will find the salmon going- up to spawn. I tell 
you we catch salmon i n my town coming up that way. We do it by fixing 
•up a fishway. I understand that thing fully. We are doing it in m}^ 
State and have done it for years. 

Mr. Callbreath. I consider that one of the greatest nurseries; it is 
greater than the natural hatchery ground, because there is a proportion 
of three of these barren lakes to five that the lish can get into, 

Mr. Powers. You wotild ho surprised at the swiftness of the water 
as it comes along a sort of a race way that these salmon will go up. 

Mr. Callbreath. They will actually climb it like a dog on a ladder. 
They hang on with their mouth, gefr hold with their tails, and wriggle 
and climb up like a dog. 

Mr. Powers. And where the water is coming over very rapidly. 
1 can show you that where there are fish ways. 

Mr. Callbreath. There are thousands of streams and lakes that 
are barren liecause of falls near tidewater which no fish can pass on 
the upward passage. B3" stocking these streams with young fry you 
reclaim a desert, vet this can be accomplished, the commercial results 
of which would be enormous. To accomplish this, however, entails a 
considerable expense. Ko policy will advance the settlement of Alaska 
more than or as much as that provided for in this bill. Everv indus- 
trious fisherman can and many will emljark in salmon culture, and in 
connection with his hatchery will develop Avhat there may be of agri- 
cultural resources that will never be utilized except in connection with 
some auxiliary industry. 

Nearly all the lands suitable for agricultural purposes are situated 
lit the mouths of streams. The 1-mile resei've to the propagator in 
many cases will not be suflicient protection, 1)ut a further reserve of 
•i miles as set forth in section 2 of the l)ill, from which all parties 
are excluded from taking fish of the kind propagated, will leave those 
which might be in transit free to pass on to their native stream unhin- 
dered; and if they are the product of the protected hatcher3% they will 
go there also unhindered. Now. the object of that is, in many cases 
there is a little nari'ow salt-water '"gut," 3"ou ma}' call it, running up 
in the mouth of the hatchery stream, and to give a man a mile of that 
would not be giving him a ])roper protection. Then again, his hatchery 
might be situated down close to the salt water, where, if you gave him 
more than a mile, you would give him a chance to get fish he did not 
produce, which we do not want to do. 

Now, if the additional 4 miles is closed to all parties — the hatchery 
as well as anybody else — if the fish are in transit to another stream the}" 
will go unhindered, and if they belong to him they will come there. 
That is the reason why that clause is put in. Fishing for all kinds of 
salmon of the difierent species from those propagated, as well as those 
of other species of fish, is free and open to all. All parties are allowed 
to catch fish in this protected zone that are not of the kind the hatchery 
produces, and the propagator is simply given exclusive right to take 
the fish he produces. All others are free for everyl)ody. 

Mr. KuTCHiN. Other kinds of salmon, I will say. 

Mr. Callbreath. Now I will read 3'ou something about the habits 
of the salmon. 

Mr. SuLZER. Regarding the habits of the salmon, your type-written 
statement can go in the record. Mr. Kutchin, of the Treasury Depart- 



8 SALMON FISHEKIES OF ALASKA. 

ment, is here and desires to sa}' a few words. We only have a few 
moments left and I w ish the committee to hear him. 

Mr. Callbreath. 1 would like to explain one reason why the law 
as it at present stands is no protection to the salmon of Alaska. Con- 
gressman Knox made some remarks in opposition to this bill, and he 
stated that if the laws that were now in existence in Alaska A\ere 
enforced there would be all the protection of the salmon that was 
required. That is a mistake. The law is tolerably well observed now. 
Now, the law only provides three-fourteenths of the lish shall be 
allowed to go up and spawn, but we wdll give them better than that — 
we will say a stream produces 50,000, and one-half would be allowed 
to go up; that would be 25,000. 

That 25,000 is subject to all the marauders that prey on the 50,000 
salmon and prevent them from being so numerous that they would 
block up the Pacific Ocean. They keep them down to the normal 
quota. They only reproduce themselves in the natural state; they do 
not increase. If they increase one-half of 1 per cent you would 
readily see in the lapse of ages that have passed the Pacific Ocean 
would not hold the salmon. They simplv in a state of nature repro- 
duce themselves. Say 25,000 go up that stream. They have to con- 
tend with all the marauders that formerly had 50,000 to feed upon. 
You can not reasonably expect there will be more than 25,000 come 
back. In fact, there will not be as many as 25,000. \Yhen they come 
back you cut them in two again, and how long before there will not be 
a salmon left in Alaska, or a mere nothing^ That is what denuded the 
salmon of the Eastern seaboard. Their appliances were so inferior 
seventy or seventy-iiv^e or a hundred years ago that they took but a 
small percentage. Now they sweep the bays completely. 1 thank 
you, gentlemen, for your indulgence. 

Mr. SuLZER. I will say, genttemen, that ^Nlr. Callbreath has a type- 
written statement regarding the habits of the salmon. I request it 
go in the record as a part of his remarks. I now take pleasure in 
introducing Mr. Kutchin of the Treasury Department. 

There was no objection. 

A peculiarity of the valuable red salmon is that they will not fre- 
quent a stream unless it has a lake that thev can reach, where they 
may lay and ripen before ascending the small streams that put into the 
lake for spawning. Fullv one-half of the small streams that produce 
a large percentage of the salmon of southeastern Alaska have no lakes 
on them, and fully three-fifths of those that have lakes are barred b}^ 
falls between the lake and tidewater, over which fish can not pass; 
hence the scarcit}^ of this valuable species of fish. The cohoe. dog, 
and humpback salmon, all inferior fish, take any stream on which there 
are spawning grounds. As a consequence they are very numerous and 
the valuable red salmon correspondingly scarce. 

These valuable red salmon are fast l^ecoming extinct, and. unless the 
Government institutes an extensive system of hatcheries and private 
parties are protected in the output of their hatcheries, will in the near 
future be numbered with the buffalo. No private party, unless pro- 
tected in the results of his industry, can withstand the enormous pres- 
sure of the great com])ines. In my own case I have expended a small 
competency in the enterprise of salmon culture that will in the end be 
of incalculable benefit to the country; but unless I am protected in 
what I produce others will reap where I have sown. It is of record in 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 9 

Holy Writ, "That he who ])uildeth a house shall dwell therein, and he 
who planteth a vineyard .shall gather the fruit thereof/' The claim of 
the salmon propagator is even stronger than that of the vinyardi.st, as 
•a vineyard implies the occupation of good land,- which can only be 
occupied by the vineyardist. and there is a limitation to good land, but 
the fruits of our hatcheries take no land for their growth; the broad 
Pacitic is their range, and streams and lakes that are practically value- 
less — and tis to the barren lakes and streams absolutely so — are their 
nurseries. 

There are several things in connection with salmon propagating that 
are not generally understood except by those engaged in the business, 
prominent among which is the necessity of protecting the young fr}" 
while in fresh water from their great enemy, the sea trout, who also 
devour over one-half the eggs before they can be buried in the gravel 
by the parent salmon. Where they breed naturally this protection is 
next to impossi1)le and entirely impracticable, but the propagator 
makes this his tirst step. In a normal state, where even no onslaught 
by fishermen at all is made upon them, the salmon merely reproduce 
their normal numbers, for if the}' increased one-half of 1 percent each 
year in the thousands of past decades the ocean to-day would not 
contain them. 

A single female red salmon contains an average of 3,500 eggs. In 
a state of nature probably 100 young frv would dig their way out of 
the gravel and begin life, which from the start is a light for existence. 
Everything that swims, walks, crawls, or tlies is their enemy, seeking 
to devour them: even their year older brothers who are still in the 
fresh water go for them ravenously, so that in the end but one of each 
sex will return at the end of ten or eleven years to plant their spawn 
and die as their parents did ten or eleven years before them. 

With artiticial propagation, out of the 3,500 eggs that one female 
produces the propagator gets 3,000, the remaining 500 being diiE- 
cult to extract. From these 3,000 eggs the propagator will bring out 
an average of 90 per cent. The past winter my own hatchery brought 
out 97i per cent, but the eggs the past year were unusually good. 
Like everything else in nature, no two years are exactly alike. This 
97i per cent were iirst turned out in preserves, where they are com- 
pletely protected from all enemies until they have consumed the egg 
sack and Ijecome swimmers — a period of about six weeks — when they 
are gathered up by means of a tine dip net and placed in their native 
waters, where they would have been had their parents been allowed to 
spawn naturallv. These waters have already been swept clean of the 
sea trout, the young salmon's greatest enemy, by means of a dam at 
the mouth of the stream over which no fish unaided can pass. The 
sea trout follow the salmon for plunder; the eggs and the young fry 
are their tidbits. 

Below my dam is a barricade and trap where everything is gathered 
in that is trying to ascend the stream. The red salmon from which I 
am propagating are picked up with a dip net and carefully passed 
over the dam to the pond above; all else are consigned to a pen on 
shore, where death soon ends their marauding career, when they are 
chucked back into the creek and swept away. This is the protection 
that the propagator gives his weaklings. No protection at all do the}^ 
have under natural conditions. 

This system, as will appear from my statements, makes the propa- 



10 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

gator turn out from the same number of salmon and in a place of com- 
parative safety 30 to 1 more than the normal turn out that would be 
open to the destruction of their numerous enemies. 

Let us now discuss the protection that the present law afiords the 
salmon. To do this in an intellio-ible manner I must first describe the 
habits of the salmon when the}' come to the stream for spawning. The 
valuable red salmon come into the ])ays and inlets in the early summer 
months, at which time of year the creeks are low. and lie around, 
sporting- and jumping from seven to ten days and longer, unless a rain 
occurs to swell the creeks, which is quite unusual at that time of year, 
but always, rain or no rain, they lie around five or six days. 

The law suspends hshing from 6 p. m. Friday till 6 p. m. Sunday, 
thirty-six hours, which as a rule is well observed. The fisherman 
plies his work assiduously all day Friday, and when 6 o'clock comes 
around not a salmon is left in the ]my. He then lays off till Sunday 
morning when a fresh supply will have come in, but not one will ha\^e 
gone up the stream. Of course he takes them in if there are compet- 
ing seins in the baj", if not he will prol)ably wait a day or two until 
there is a good school in the bay and he can make a fat hauh he is 
not afraid of losing them, they will wait his pleasure. By this you 
will see, gentlemen, that the fishermen can take all that come and still 
be within the law. 

But suppose of a stream that had a normal run of 50,000 one-half 
were allowed to go up, the same number of marauders to prey on their 
spawn and young fry would be on hand as though the whole 50,<)00 
had gone up. Now, if the oO,<iOO normallv only reproduce themselves 
it is reasonable to suppose that 25,0(10 thousand would do no better — 
would they do as well, having to feed the marauders that formerly had 
the product of the whole 50,000 for their feasts I think not. I 
think something considerabh' under 25,000 would be the result. Now, 
when the product of the 25,000 returns let 12,500, half the product, 
go up, and so on, letting one-half go up each year, how long will it be 
before that stream is depopulated C 

It was this process that denuded the streams of our Eastern seaboard. 
The primitive means of taking fish in those early days bore no com- 
parison to the sweeping means now in use that rake the bays and inlets 
as with a fine-tooth comb. It is this process that is killing and will 
eflectually exterminate our salmon fisheries of the Pacific. The remedy, 
and the only remedy, is artificial propagation. Protect the hardy 
fisherman in the fruits of his labor and he will build up the fisheries 
a hundredfold beyond what they were before the canneries depleted 
them, without a dollar cost to the Government. He will do more, he 
will give vou a population of hardy seamen, of which Mr. Seward said 
Alaska would be the nursery: he will develop what there may be of 
agricultural resources: will be a permanent resident of the country, 
and his children to the manor 1)orn. Every fisherman, though he may 
never have made a voyage at sea, is half a sailor, and when he gains 
the other half, makes the best sailor in the world. 

The belief expressed that these propagators would all be bought up 
by the great corporations is groundless, as well might we withhold the 
homestead from settlers on the public domain, lest when he obtained 
his patent he would sell out to the land shark. The small streams on 
which all future hatcheries would be confined are numbered by the 
thousands, the most of which, aye, all. would V)e vrtilized sooner or 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 11 

later if the tisherinaii avus protected in the product of hi« toil. Under 
present conditions the great combine can and will continue to gobble 
the entire product of tlie country-. 

• If the boon asked for in this bill be granted, the fisherman, when 
the tishing season is over, instead of Avasting his time and summer 
eai'niugs around the saloons and dance houses of the towns, will l)e at 
his hatchery rearing salmon and supplying the market with a cheap 
luxury that will be within the reach of every factory girl or artisan in 
the land at a nominal cost — it will help kill the food trust. 

I would draw a simile ])etween the enormous increase in salmon that 
would follow the passage of this law and the phenomenal increase of 
the rabbit in California and Washington. The destruction of the 
coyote, hawk, and wild-cat (In^ the settlers), whose common food was 
the 3'oung rabbit, caused that little ruminant to increase to such an 
extent that concerted action was necessar}' to save the crops; whole 
townships turned out for drives to destroy the rabbits. Now the prop- 
agator will not only destroy the natural enemies of the young salmon 
as did the settler the coyote. Init he will beat nature a hundredfold in 
their reproduction — he will, in fact, become a stock breeder of the 
advanced period in which we live. No cowboys will be required to 
round up his herds, droughts Avill not starve nor blizzards freeze them, 
the broad Pacific will be his pasture, the world his market, the human 
race his beneficiaries. 

It is true property in fish is a new proposition, ])ut Ave are living in 
an advanced age and new propositions are especiallv in order. Our 
Oovernment claimed property rights in seals that are purely the prod- 
uct of nature, and the admittedly ablest jurist on that Commission, 
Baron Courcell, sustained our claim but was overruled Ijy the majorit3\ 
The propagator's claim is far stronger, as he lays no claim to nature's 
product, he simply claims that which he creates from the dormant 
capital of her great banking house, which he merely uses as a loan. 

This C'ongress is considering the adoption of a ship-subsidy law to 
assist in building up a merchant marine. Give the propagator a prop- 
erty right in that which he ])roduces and he will help fill their holds 
with freight and man their decks with seamen without one dollar of 
.subsidy. Everything in this bill that might tend to give the propa- 
gator monopolistic privileges is carefully guarded; the onus of proof 
in every case is on the propagator. The Government will he winner 
thousands of dollars annuallv in the increased output of canned salmon, 
on Avhich a tax of 4 cents per case is collected. It will give employ- 
ment to thousands of laborers, will be a large factor in building a new 
State in the extreme Northwest, and vastly increase the food supplv of 
the world. 

STATEMENT OF MR. H. M. KUTCHIN. 

Mr. KuTCHix. ^Ir. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee. I 
had no expectation of making any formal statement in regard to the 
bill under consideration, but came in response to the invitation to 
endeavor to reply to C[uestions which you might put. 

Mr. Lloyd. Would you have the time to prepare a statement that 
might be submitted to the stenographer in the next few days? 

Mr. KuTCHiN. That would be pretty sweeping; I have made five 
annual reports which cover almost every phase of the question. 



12 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Lloyd. I appreciate that. 

Mr. Kltchin. I want to say in relation to this bill that I do not, 
regard it as the sole or perhaps even the best method of preserving the 
salmon industry of Alaska. I regard it as a question of pure equity, 
and a proper protection of the rights of those who are seeking to con- 
tribute to that end. Every man who has the enterprise and public 
spirit to start a hatchery in Alaska ought to be protected. Under the 
present law such is not the case. There is a regulation of the Treas- 
ury Department now which requires that every conductor of a can- 
nery or saltery in Alaska shall establish and run in cooperation with it 
a hatchery to reenforce nature. Geographic and climatic conditions 
make that impracticable and impossible as an universal rule. There 
are places where the streams freeze solid. There are other places 
where hatcher}' sites are inaccessible and unobtainable, and there are 
regions where at present they do not need any hatchery. 

Conditions in southeastern Alaska are very different from those in 
other portions of the district. In southeastern Alaska there are many 
small streams. In Bering Sea, in Cook Inlet, in Shelikof Straits, and 
Prince William Sound there are ver}' few streams and those are very 
lai'ge. 1 believe that the reenforcement of nature b\' artificial propa- 
gation is the only method of preserving the salmon industry of Alaska. 
The law as it exists is impracticable, contradictor}-, and of little effect. 
The prime spirit of it is that the fish shall be protected for access to 
the streams to spawn, and by a curious exhibition of ignorance the law 
applies only to "rivers and streams" in terms. As a matter of fact, 
except in Bering Sea, there is very little fishing done in the rivers and 
streams, and in southeastern Alaska I might say almost none; so that 
men plying their nets at the mouth of a stream and approaches some- 
times would do all that a dam would do in preventing access of the fish 
to the stream; and there is nothing in the law to prevent it. It is not 
violations of the existing law that is decimating the salmon (if they 
are being decimated), but the stupendous machinery of the packing 
establishments there. In my experience of the fisheries of Alaska — I 
have been going there, this next trip will be my sixth cruise, I have 
traveled from eight to ten thousand miles every summer 

Mr. Lloyd. Has it been a part of your duty to see that the law is 
enforced { 

Mr. KuTCHix. It has been my paramount duty as far as possible, 
but the great area and the multitude of fisheries make it absolutely 
impossible to visit all of them. 1 suppose there are five hundred dif- 
ferent streams and places where fishing is done. There are two men 
to maintain surveillance over all that region and police it. which, you 
see, is absolutely impossible. 

Mr. Lloyd. The matter has been discussed somewhat in the House. 
Do you think additional help will remedy that t 

Mr. KuTCHix. It would in a measure, but a revision of the law- which 
would cover all the waters where the fish are taken would be much 
better. As a matter of fact, tjie Secretary of the Treasury under that 
law has no power over the approaches of a stream. You can take all 
the fish that come and prevent any fish, practically, from going up the 
stream without violating the law at all. 

In portions of Alaska there is a great a))undance of fish now. In 
Bering Sea in going a distance of o miles last summer in a steam 
launch the wheel was clogged several times with live salmon, and we 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 13 

had to stpp and pi'k them out with a l)oat hook. ' It will be many 
years before those lisheries are destroyed. 80 far as the eyidence is 
concerned there has been no decimation of the tisheries. The lir.st 3'ear 
I went up there the take was something less than a million cases. It 
has gone on in an ascending scale steadil}', with one exception. Last 
year it was oyer 2. 000, 000 cases, or 96,000,000 pounds of prepared 
food. In 1897 I think there were :29 canneries, and last year disclosed 
55 and a lai'ge numl)er of salteries. 

■ It is a great industry^ as Mr. Sulzer has said. It will ayerage 
$4,000,000, perhaps, a year. The product of Alaska is about equal that 
of Puget Sound and Fraser Riyer. There are something like 11,000 
persons employed there and a large Humlier of ships, and the product 
this year is approximately $7,000,000. The taxes paid to the Goyern- 
ment thi.s ^-ear are about $^90,000. 

My theory is that the Fish Connnission, with an appropriation under 
the Goyernment. should take charge of the hatchery business. There 
should be three or four large stations, with proper steamers for the 
distribution of the fry: the fry should be properly distributed in the 
streams, and supply all the packers who would prefer to procure 
their fr}- from the Goyernment rather than to produce it themselyes. 

I do not belieye that the attempt to reenforce these lisheries by the 
production of salmon in the hands of priyate parties will be effectiye. 
There is a large hatchery at Karluk — it was one of the greatest lisheries 
in the world at one time — and they put out 30,000,000 of spawn this 
year, but under the existing conditions there are four or fiye ditierent 
companies that tish at that fishery who will take the hsh produced by 
this one company, which is manifest!}' inequitable and unjust. 

Mr. Lloyd. And the Fish Commission has no control oyer them at 
present!; 

Mr. KuTCHiN. The Fish Commission seems to be ayerse to going into 
Alaska. They treat of the scientitic conditions, but the}' apparently 
do not wish to haye anything to do with the policing and taking care 
of the tisheries. 

Mr. Lloyd. You are satislied from your own knowledge of the 
matter that the trouble at present is with the law and not with the 
oiBcers of the law i 

Mr, KuTCHix. I am quite sure of that. I can say conscientiously 

Mr. Lloyd. I am asking specially about that because the Fish 
Commission or other parties haye said that the fault was not on their 
part. I do not seek to make it personal, but since you were there, I 
want to ask the question directly. 

Mr. KuTCHiN. I am glad to haye you ask it. 

Mr. Sulzer. Just in that regard, permit me to say that during the 
two summers I spent in Alaska I neyer heard a man complain about 
Mr. Kutchin's work; they all spoke in the highest terms of it. but, as 
he says, the fault is with the law, not with the officials of the Treasurj^ 
Department. 

Mr. KuTCHiN. The law and the limitations that preyent the enforce- 
ment of its true intent. 

Mr. Lloyd. Do you think the machinery could be remedied? 

Mr. KuTCHiN. Just to the extent that three men would be more 
valuable than two and forty men would be better than four men. 

Mr. Lloyd. But if you had the forty men, that would still not be 
enough ? 



14 SALMON FISHEKIES OF ALASKA. 

Mr. KuTCHiN. I do not believe a regiment of men, under the exist- 
ing law, can preserve the tisheries, for the reason that the machiner3r 
emploj^ed by the persons engaged in taking the fish is so stupendous 
that they will violate the spirit while preserving the letter of the law. 

Mr. Lloyix Can you suggest a simple plan that will make a law 
which would be effective? 

]Mr. KuTCHiN. I have cudgeled my l)i'ain a long time for some rem- 
edy, and have reached the conclusion that it rests on abundant artificial 
propagation; l)ut no man knows that a hatched salmon has ever come 
back to fresh water; thus far it is purely experimental. I heard this 
summer that marked fish came back to a certain stream. I am certain 
it was a mistake, for they do not know whether they come back in 
four 3'ears (the common American idea). Mr. Huxley says seven 
vears, and Mr. Callbreath eleven years. No man knows, as a matter 
of fact. But we know the success in the propagation of shad and 
other fishes. The habits of the salmon are unknown and it is experi- 
mental, but nothing can be accomplished unless it is initiated, and pre- 
suming that what is l)elieved to be the fact in regard to other fish is 
true of salmon, they should be propagated and should return to the 
parent stream, I think that is the only remedy. 

They will last longer in Bering Sea for the reason of the conditions 
in the great rivers where it is impossible to prevent their ingress to 
the spawning grounds — the width, the currents, and the tides — but 
they will ultimately be exterminated. Years ago the salmon rivers of 
Scotland wei'e so teeming with salmon that the laboring men bar- 
gained that they should not be required to eat it more than three times 
a week. Now fresh salmon is a luxury for the rich, just as the white- 
fish on the lakes have become. They used to be packed in every little 
cove and port on Lakes Michigan and Superior, and now there are 
very few white-fish, and the packing of white-fish is almost gone. 
History agrees in all particulars that inland fishing is subject to exter- 
mination, and I believe that this will be true as to the salmon in 
Alaska to-day, that they are doomed within a reasonable period — within 
the life of any person here present. 

This bill, which we are here to discuss, is fair and equitable. I 
think that any man who is disposed to put in his time and money and 
effort, as Mr. Callbreath and others have, should be protected, and I 
think this bill does it fairly and well, and that it does not encroach 
upon the rights of anybody. It does not give an3"body the exclusive 
rights of streams. There will probably be contentions, where there 
are two men on a stream, as to how many fish each produced and how 
many of the returning fish are his, and a great deal of troul)le of that 
sort, but that can not be well cared for in this particular bill. I think 
it is a good l)ill. So far as the preservation of fisheries is concerned 
1 think there should be a vital revision of law. There should probably 
be limitations as to the duration of the fishing seasons and the size of 
the pack, 

Mr. Smith. I understood \"ou to sa\^ that one of the infirmities of 
the law was that there were points that the present law did not cover 
at all i 

Mr. KuTCHiN. The law is presumed to cover them. 

Mr. Smith. Does not the law cover the streams { 

]Mr. KuTCHiN. The language of the law is confined, as you remem- 
ber, to the rivers and streams. Now, as a matter of fact, there is little 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 15 

fishing- in, the rivers and .streams except in Bering Sea. Karluk River 
is ft little, narrow stream which has been the greatest tishery in Alaska. 
They lav a net there outside the mouth with a steam launch and thej' 
draw it in with a steam winch, and that net will embrace a mile of 
water; and this operation is kept up uninterruptedly, except during 
the closed season, while a salmon is to be had. It is inevitable that 
few tish are permitted to enter the river. 

Mr. 8ui/zER. Permit me to interrupt you right there. I have abso- 
lutely witnessed a haul bringing in over 4:0,00<> sahiion. 

Mr. KuTCHiN. They have a story about pulling in 125,000 salmon 
this season in a single haul at Karluk. There is one of the eccentrici- 
ties of salmon theories. The Karluli production was one of the largest 
and it has gone steadily down, every year smaller than the year before, 
and this year there were so many tish there that it was impossible to 
handle them and they were sent ofi' 150 miles to replenish the meager 
supplj^ of other canneries. 

Mr. Lloyd. That would carry out the theory that they come back 
to the same point where the spawn hi 

Mr. KuTCHiN. They do there. The tish at Karluk is distinctive in 
character. They are almost the smallest salmon in Alaska, and 150 
miles away the}^ get one of the largest fish. But in contradiction of 
that statement, I was down at one place last summer where tish were 
commonly scarce. The stream is said to have been fenced for many 
vears, as it is inaccessible and had never been visited by an official. 
But that season there were swarms of salmon, and packers at a distance 
came to profit from the unusual run. It is as certain as anything can 
be that those fish were never hatched in that river. Where had they 
come from? They were unlike those ordinarily taken at adjacent 
fisheries. 

At Chignik they have the most odious fishing system in the whole 
business, the traps. Traps starting out from the shore line and run- 
ning to here [indicating] and then over here [indicating], half a mile 
long. Those traps are planted in the river so close together that 
\'ou can not shoot a rifle without hitting a pile, and still the lake is full 
of fish. How they ever got up there no man knows. They have no 
business to use those traps, the}^ are illegal under the spirit of the 
law. There is no such thing with them as a closed season. The law 
provides that the closed season shall be from 12 p. m. Friday until 6 
p. m. Sunday. These infernal traps take everything that comes, all 
kinds of fish, even seals. There is a regulation that they should open 
those traps during the closed season, but it is not fully eftective. 
Curiously enough in one section of the existing law traps are forbid- 
den, and in another section it provides that they may he used if they 
do not extend more than one-third across the width of the river, and 
it has been decided that the traps are permitted under that provision. 

Mr. Powers. I understand you distinctly to state that you believe 
the existing law furnishes no adequate protection, for the reason that 
without violating the law ])arties can go farther out to sea and can 
catch nearly all the fish i 

Mr. Kltchin. I do not think the existing law att'ords any protection; 
not in the small streams, except in so far as it provides for a closed 
season and forbids barricades. 

Mr. Callbreath. In the small streams the existing law afl'ords no 
protection whatever. 



16 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

Mr. SuLZER. Gentlemen, we have here Mr. H. B. Martin, who 
represents the American Anti-Trust League, and who is interested in 
this bill in the interest of the consumers of the country. 1 would like 
to have the committee listen to Mr. Martin a few moments. 

Mr. Martin. I will not ask to make an}- argument. I want to leave 
with the conmiittee the report of Commander Moser, of the United 
States Nav3% giving- extracts from his report on the Alaska salmon 
investigations in 1900, and the report of operations of the United 
States Fish Commission steamer Allxitross^ of which he was the com- 
mander; and in his report for 1900 he devotes pages 221 to 227. 
inclusive, al)out eight pages, to the methods used by Mr. Callbreath 
to propagate the salmon and increase the supply of young tish. In 
closing that report, which is very interesting and which will }w instruc- 
tive to the committee, I will leave it here as a part of the hearing. 
He says, in the last paragraph: 

Mr. Callbreath is positive that his fish will return, Vjut he now lielieves the time has 
not yet arrived for the first output to mature. It is earnestly hoped he may realize 
all he anticipates, for the zeal and enthusiasm which he dis]>lays should meet with 
ample reward. In the meantime he is earrying on a very interesting experiment: 
If his fish retuin he will have demonstrated that salmon do return tn the parent 
stream, he will have thrown much light on the age of fish, and he will have proved 
that a stream running a few fish can be made to yield a))normally. If this is demon- 
strated a law should be passed permitting the leasing of small streams for hatchery 
purposes and recognizing ownership in fish thus hatched. This would mean a great 
deal to southeastern Alaska, as it would draw settlers who could make a very good 
living by operating a hatchery and cultivating the little patches of land that are favor- 
ably located. 

That is on page 227 of Captain Mosers report, which has just l^een 
placed in the hands of the Government Printing Office; this is from 
the advance sheets. 

Mr. SuLZER. I desire to say that the Secretar}^ of the Treasury 
informed me that Captain Moser had made this report on the salmon 
industry of Alaska, and that the report had been sent to the Government 
Printing Office, but had not yet been printed, but that if I would send 
to the Government Printing Office they would give me advance sheets, 
and these are the advance sheets, a part of this report, relating to this 
very matter. I do not think this part of the report will take up more 
than a few pages, and I desire to ask the Committee to have it printed 
herewith. 

Mr. Martin. The only other word I desire to say is very brief, and 
is that the interest 1 take in this matter of the preservation of the 
salmon fisheries is as a student of economics, and as one who desires to 
see the food supph' of the world preserved and increased in every way 
possible. We know that the human race is increasing very rapidly in 
numbers, and we want to provide as good and altundant a food supply 
as is possil)le, and we want to prevent the creating of a monopoly, such 
as the recent beef trust, and so we favor anything that will increase 
the supplv. From the reports of Captain Moser. who is an expert, 
and from the reports of Mr. Kutchin, the special agent, and from the 
statements of other gentlemen who are experts and authorities on 
this question, and from the testimony of Captain Callbreath, it is very 
evident beyond any question that it is necessary to do something to pre- 
serve the salmon fisheries from extinction, and as they are of enormous 
value as food supplies, and as this 1)111 does not give any monopoly, but 
simply provides that the men who have worked and labored to increase 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 17 

the supply shall bo protected; in other words, that they may reap 
where the}' have sown, we believe that it would l)e proper and desira- 
ble legislation, and we hope that your committee will report the bill. 
. Mr. Lloyd. I would like to ask Mr. Callbreath whether he has made 
experiments in this line for some time? 

Mr. Callbreath. Yes, sir; for ten years. I have been looking- into 
the matter for some forty years, but this is the tenth year I have had 
this thing under my personal observation. 

Mr. Lloyd. You mark the lish for return 'i 

Mr. Callbreath. 1 never marked any tish. 

Mr. Lloyd. When did you begin to mark any? 

Mr. Callbreath. 1 never marked any tish. I have a check on 
them, w^hich is far better than the mark, because the marked lish counts 
for nothing. Other people mark them just as you do. I have picked 
up in m}' place many lish that have the marks on them that you would 
suppose they came from Puget Sound, but they were all local fish. 
They cut oli' a fin, or they cut ofi* part of the tail. My plan is the 
simplest thing in the world. I have a dam at the mouth of my stream 
over which no fish can pass unaided. AVhen the fish come up to the 
dam, going to the spawning ground, I pick up the valuable fish with a 
dip net, and they go on up to the lake. 

The humpback, an inferior fish, comes to this stream, probably from 
fifteen to twenty-five thousand, and I kill them all. I have killed 
them ever since 18t>2. There is no spawning ground below my ground, 
and I have killed that whole mess of fish since 1892, and they came 
back as plentiful last year as ever. When we progress further, these 
inferior fish will become extinct, and there will be an increase in the 
fish that 1 am producing there. The normal product has not been 
altered a particle: the smallest year was 2,500 and the largest year 
5,000. Here [exhibiting] I have some specimens of fish that are 2 
years old. They show you that these fish take a long time to grow. 
These specimens are just about to leave the fresh water and go to sea. 
As Colonel Kutchin has said, it is an experiment, and it is a very 
expensive experiment, one in which I have alread}^ spent 120,000 and 
have not received 1 cent yet, but I expect to get something from it. 
I know the whole world is wrong as to the salmon's age. I do not 
know how near 1 am right, but I will know before many years; but 
I do know that the whole world is wrong; I know that absolutely. 

Mr. Lloyd. You know that because you have been killing this par- 
ticular class of fish? 

Mr. Callbreath. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Lloyd. And you have been doing that for ten years? 

Mr. Callbreath. Yes, sir; I keep a strict account of every red 
salmon that passes over my dam, male and female, and I know just 
how man}^ start up the little streams, and all that. There is a pecu- 
liarity about the red salmon; he will not take a stream that has not a 
lake on it, and 3'et he does not spawn the lake. There may be two 
streams, one of which has fine spawning grounds, but the red salmon 
will not go up that stream unless there is a lake; he wants to lay in 
the lake in the deep water and ripen. The other fish take any stream 
on which there are good spawning grounds, but the red salmon will not. 

Mr. Kutchin. I want to amplify my statement as to the enlarge- 
ment of the force and the effect. You asked me if more men would 
improve the situation and make the law more operative. As to those 
sal 2 



18 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

places where l)arrifades are forbidden at the mouths of streams and 
where the closed season is observed, of course close observance of the 
regulations would be beneficial; but that would not prevent the stead}' 
extermination of the salmon. 

Mr. SuLZER. We are very much obliged to the committee for its 
attention, and I trust the bill will be favorably reported. 

Thereupon the subcommittee adjourned. 

The report submitted ]\v Mr. Martin follows: 

ALASKA SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN 1900 — REPORT OF THE OPERATIONS 
OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION STEAMER ALBATROSS DURING 
THE SUMMER OF 1900. 

[By Jefferson F. Moser, Commander, United States Navy, commander.] 

[Pages 221 to 227, inclusive.] 

C.iLLBREATH HATCHERY. 

Mr. John C. Callbreath has been a resident of Alaska for man}' 
years; he was the manager of the Point Ellis cannery until it was 
destroyed by lire in 1892, and has lately been engaged in the transpor- 
tation business on the Stikine River and in trading, making his home 
at Wrangell. He is a representative citizen, enterprising, and devoted 
to salmon culture. 

In 1892, in connection with the Point Ellis cannery, he started the 
hatchery referred to under that stream heading. Having seen the rise 
of the salmon industry, and knowing, as all must know who are familiar 
with the question, that the abusive and excessive fishing and total dis- 
regard of the law ];»y the fisheries must slowly but surely exterminate 
the salmon for couunercial purposes, he determined to take a salmon 
stream that under normal conditions carried a few thousand redfish, 
and by artificial propagation increase the production to hundreds of 
thousands. He hoped that, if successful, a law would be framed mak- 
ing the increase his OAvn property. 

The hatchery is a private enterprise, unconnected with any cannery 
or fishery, and based upon the widely prevailing belief that the salmon 
retui'n to the parent stream in four years after they are hatched. As 
this time has passed, however, without any apparent return, Mr. Call- 
breath has extended his period to ten years. 

In establishing the hatchery a stream was sought satisfying the con- 
ditions imposed, and one was found at the head of McHenry Inlet. It 
is small, about one-half mile in length, and flows over a rocky and 
bowldery bed between heavily wooded shelving banks. At its head is 
a small lake 12 feet above tide water, slightly L-shaped, al)out three- 
fourths mile long by one-fourth wide, and bordered by low wooded 
banks. The stream was never known to supply more than from 3,0()0 
to 5,000 redfish. a number too small to attract the attention of the 
commercial fisheries. In fact, it was known as a " cultus chuck" or 
worthless stream. 

After making satisfactory arrangements with the Indians claiming 
the stream, a hatchery was built in 1892 on the right bank about 200 
yards from the mouth, and suitable dams were thrown across the 
stream to impound the fish. The hatchery water was taken from the 
stream, conveying it hy a flume from a point near the lake, where a 



SALMON FISHERIJZS OF ALASKA. 



19 




20 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

dam wa.s built. After operating- the hatchery during- the latter part of 
the season in 1892 and turning- out about 600,000 fry, it was seen that 
the breeding tish could not be impounded properly in the stream, many 
djdng, probably from exhaustion in attempting to pass the barrier. It 
was also found that the stream water used in the hatcher}" was unsuitable, 
not onl}' on account of the wide range in temperature, but the organic 
matter it contained smothered the eggs and caused fungus. An excel- 
lent site having been found on the lake in the vicinity of the streams 
forming the natural spawning-beds, with a spring giving an abundant 
supply of pure water of very equable temperature, the hatchery was 
moved in the spring of 1893 to its present site. It was operated that 
year and every year until 190O, when the projector decided that his 
means would not permit him to continue the work unless some return 
was made. 

From its first inception it was determined that, in order to obtain 
the best results, onl}' the most desirable species should be admitted to 
the lake, and that all enemies must be removed and excluded. In order 
to carry this into effect dams were built across the stream with racks 
below them, as shown in the sketch, at a point about 100 yards from 
salt water, where an islet divides the stream into two parts. The dam 
and fence on the western side of the islet allow nothing to pass. The 
fence on the eastern side has a trap opening, admitting tish to the foot 
of the dam. Here the redlish and cohoes are lifted by dip nets to the 
pool above, from which point they can ascend quickly to the lake. 
Nothing can enter the lake which is not passed over the dam by hand. 
The humpbacks, dog salmon, Dolly Varden trout, and all enemies are 
carefully excluded, and the lake is therefore free of undesirable and 
predatory species. The lake has been carefully fished, and all enemies 
to the fry, such as cut-throats and other trout, sticklebacks, bullheads, 
sculpins, etc., have been removed, so that it is comparatively clear of 
enemies. 

The hatchery is located on the northern side of the lake, about three- 
eighths mile from the head of the outlet, and midway between a series 
of 11 springs and feeders, the extreme distance being less than one- 
fourth mile from the main building. The hatching-house stands on the 
border of the lake, partly over a small feeder, and back of it is a sub- 
stantial and comfortable log dwelling-, 20 feet bv 36 feet. Strung along 
the lake are two houses for the hatchery hands, each 12 feet by 16 feet, 
a smokehouse for smoking the stripped lish, and a tool house. The 
original cost of the plant, and all expenses connected with it to date 
(September, 1900), amount to $16,000. 

The hatchery usually opens July 1, when preparations are begun for 
the season; stripping generalh^ commences September 1; the place is 
closed about March 1. 

The hatchery building is 75 feet long, east and west, b}^ 11 feet in 
width; south wall 11 feet high, north wall 6 feet high; shed roof, with 
windows on the south side only; on the east end is an open-shed annex, 
18 feet by 11 feet. 

The troughs are 16 feet by 13^ inches by .oi inches, inside measure- 
ment, made of planed lumber, 1^-inch l)o"ttom, li-inch sides, covered 
with asphalt varnish. In the main building are 2 lines of troughs 
arranged in pairs, with 8 troughs in a line, making a total of 16, 
arranged with a passage around the lines as shown in the sketch. Each 
pair of troughs has a drop of 1 inch in its length, with a fall of -i inches 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 21 

to the next. The lir.st compartment in each trou^^h is S inches in leng'th, 
a'nd receives and aerates the water; then come 7 basket divisions, each 
24 inches long-, separated ])v the Williamson system of division plates, 
2 inches apart; the last space is 4 inches. The annex will accommodate 
4 troughs, but it has seldom ])een used. 

The baskets are of the usual wire webbing, tive-eighths inch by one- 
sixth inch for redtish eggs, and tive-eighths inch by one-tifth inch for 
cohoes, and are 23^ inches by 12f inches 1)v 4f inches, and have no 
wooden rims. They afe supported an inch from the liottom of the 
trough by broad-headed nails and tin clips. All are well lacquered. 
A full basket contains 00,000 redtish eggs, or 30,000 to 35,000 coho 
eggs. The capacity of the hatchery is therefore 6,720,000 redtish eggs, 
and the annex 1,680,000 of the same species, but it is doubted if the 
latter can be regarded as a reliable factor in estimating the capacity. 

The hatchery water is received from a pool about 150 yards north 
of the hatchery, which is supplied by three springs (see Sketch G) in 
the immediate vicinity, augmented by an additional spring, which is 
connected with the j^ool l)y a ditch. From the pool the water is con- 
veyed b}^ a covered Hume to the west end of the hatchery ])uilding and 
is then distributed, as shown in the drawing. The flow is regulated at 
the closed end of the Hume in the pool by means of holes in the bot- 
tom plank, in which plugs may be inserted, increasing or decreasing 
the supply as ma}' be necessary. The main flume, midway in its 
length, is joined by a flume running from a reserve pool to the east- 
ward, which may be used if necessary. The water is very clear and 
evidently quite pure, as no trouble has ever been experienced from 
fungoid growth. It is not tiltered, but there are screens in the upper 
end of the flume to strain out foreign particles which may fall into the 
pool. The water is very equable in temperature and is said never to 
freeze. The lowest temperature observed in midwinter is recorded as 
38° F., and the highest in midsummer 46° F. These are the extremes, 
the average range running from 39° to 45° F. During moderate win- 
ter weather the temperature of the water runs from 40° to 43° F. — 
never above the latter. While the temperature of the water is fre- 
quenth^ taken during the season, there is no daily record from which 
curves mav be drawn. The following mav be noted as fair averages: 
July 25, 1898, 45° F.; September 14, 1898, 43" F.; lowest during the 
winter of 1898-99, 39° F.; April 15, 1899, 41° F. The lake water 
ranges from the freezing point in winter to 60° F. in midsummer. It 
is claimed that the present hatchery supply is sufficient for 15,000,000 
eggs and that there are additional springs in the vicinity which, at small 
expense, can be utilized. In the hatchery the same water is used 
through four troughs, and if the annex is used, through five. It then 
passes by a sluice to the small creek under the hatchery. 

The arrangements seem crude, and all fittings and appliances are 
constructed at the least expense, yet it all indicates an intelligent 
endeavor in a direction where there was but little previous experience 
in the work. Judging from the output, however, the hatchery has 
been very successful, and is a striking example of what may be done 
in this line of work if undertaken in an intelligent manner. Mr. 
Callbreath certainly deserves great credit, not only for the work he 
has accomplished, but for the proof he has given that a hatchery ma}^ 
be operated successfuU}' for very little money. 

Feeders, ripen huj pool x^ and ymn^erie-s. — The redfishand cohoes after 



22 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 




SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASAA. 23 

entering- the lake lemain in its waters until ripe, a period varying from 
two to six weeks, sometimes longer, depending upon the condition of 
the tish as they enter from the sea; and when ripe they seek the 
feeders to spawn. In the immediate vicinity of the hatchery there are 
six feeders and springs which form natural spawning-beds and are 
arranged for taking ripe tish, and also several nursery ponds. (See 
sketch.) The mouths of these feeders are fenced and hav^e trap 
openings,' which admit the lish, but do not permit them to leave. 

Feeders A, B, and K*are tighth' fenced to prevent adult tish from 
entering, as they are full of obstructions on which the tish might injure 
themselves. C, D, E, and F are spring pools, which have been cleared 
and improved, opening on the lake.' The pool C is separated by a dam 
into two ponds, the inner one forming an excellent nursery. D is not 
considered very good. E is the best pond, and secures the largest 
number of breeders except J. F is a nursery pond; an inclined fence 
of brush surmounts the dam and partly shades the pool, which is 
believed to beneht the fry. G is the outlet for the overflow from the 
hatchery reservoir pool; it has several s7i»all pools, formed by widen- 
ings in the stream, where fry were one year planted but did not do 
very well. The lower of these pools, shown on the sketch, was also 
used as a nursery, but was unsatisfactory. H is the overtlow from 
the auxiliary pool for hatchery supply, and receives the hatching- 
house waste; at times a few lish are permitted to enter and are spawned 
as needed to till up baskets. J is the chief feeder entering the lake, 
and is about 100 yards east from the hatchery; the mouth is fenced 
with the usual trap opening, and from this point for about TO feet 
upstream the banks are walled up with vertical slabs. At J the stream 
has been dammed to make an upper pool in which, and in the upper 
reaches, fr}^ are released. The ripe fish are stripped on the west bank 
of the lower reach. 

Sjxiicning. — The ripe fish enter the pens through the traps and are 
secured by dip nets; they average about 7 pounds in weight. Spawn- 
ing begins about September 1, and continues activelv tor about six 
weeks; a few ripe fish keep running until late in the winter, the latest 
arrivals having the most perfect eggs. 

In spawning the wet process is used; a pan is half filled with water, 
into which the ova are stripped and the milt added; these are mixed 
with the fingers, and then set aside for one hour, after which the eggs 
are thoroughly washed, transferred to buckets, and carried to the 
hatchery where they are placed in the baskets. 

It is found that impregnation will take place up to 3 minutes after 
the ova have been ejected, and that the best results are obtained by 
adding the milt between i and 1\ minutes after ejection. 

Size of njgs. — The number of eggs of both redfish and cohoes has 
been frequently counted, and it has been found that a full healthy 
female of each species contains 3,500 eggs, but it is rare that the full 
numlier is obtained. As frequently some are left in the fish, and 
others are not in good condition, the count is made on 3,000 eggs to 
the full fish, or 20 redfish, or 10 to 12 cohoes, to the basket, the eggs 
of the latter being about twice the size of the former. When a large 
number of fish mature at the same time it is frequently found that 
some eggs have been voided, and in such cases it will take two and 
sometimes three fish to make one "count" fish. 

In counting the eggs a condensed-milk can is used as a measure. 



24 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

This measure, l)v repeated counting, has been found to contain 1,9U4 
redtish or 848 coho eggs. A quantity of eggs from a healthy, normal,, 
ripe female redtish was secured and measured with the following 
results: Fort}' covered 2 square inches and 20 in a line against a 
straight edge occupied a length of exactly 4^ inches, giving a single 
ef!;g a diameter of 0,225 inch. It has been observed that brilliantly 
colored or unusually large or small eggs are apt to prove failures. 

Several hundred cohoes are usually stripped each year and the eggs 
hatched. The}' run about six weeks later than the redtish. 

The picking of eggs is done with ordinar}- tin forceps and is com- 
menced six to eight weeks after the eggf< are placed in the baskets. It 
is claimed that the percentage of bad eggs is very small, and that very 
little, if any, fungus appears. The delicate period is unknown here. 
It is probably covered during the time the eggs remain undisturbed. 

Period of incuhation.- — The temperature records are not at all com- 
plete, and no attempt has been made to determine the thermal hatching 
unit. Generally it may be said that with a temperature of 45- F., the 
average highest, to 39^, the average lowest, the e3'e spots appear in 
from 30 to 38 days. A few are earlier, and a few are 45 days before 
they are well eyed out. In 90 days they are hatching rapidly; in 100 
days t\vo-thirds are hatched; in 110 days four-fifths are out, and the 
remainder straggle along for several months. As the hatchery closes 
March 1 the unhatched eggs are buried in the gravel, simulating the 
natural conditions. The cohoes hatch about 10 days earlier, and an 
experiment made with a basket of humpl)ack eggs showed that the}' 
hatched in 70 days under conditions in which the redtish hatched in 90 
days. 

Eggs which hatch out well in advance of the mass ("prematures") 
and those equally late, produce usually very weak fish, or "freaks." 
It has been the experience here that it is useless to waste time on these 
fish, as they invarial^ly die. It has been found that the fry just hatched 
collect in the lower end of the troughs, and to prevent loss they are 
removed as early as possible, within a day or two after hatching, and 
placed in the nursery, the upper ponds of the feeders, and sometimes 
in the lake, where the bottom is grassy or covered with pond lilies. 

The yolk sac is al)sorbed in from forty-five to fifty days, but shows 
plainly at sixty days, though skiimed over and in the belly. After 
this has taken place they are taken from the nursery and some are 
placed in the feeders and others in the lake, where the natural condi- 
tions are most favorable for their protection. 

The loss varies from 8 to 12 per cent, depending upon the season; 
if there is an abundance of rain, permitting the fish to ascend without 
injury, the eggs are found in good condition and the loss is small. 
During a dry season the fish are kept from ascending until the fall 
rains, and as they partially ripen in the salt or brackish water the 
eggs are more easily injured. Realizing the advantage in having the 
fish arrive in the lake in a healthy, vigorous state, considerable work 
has been done at the outlet to remove obstructions and to improve the 
natural conditions. 

Barren Jal'es. — Mr. Callbreath lays considerable stress upon the use 
of what he terms barren lakes in connection with hatchery work. 
These lakes have in their sea connections high falls or cascades pre- 
venting the passage of fish from the sea and usually are quite clear of 
the enemies of salmon fry. Mr. Callbreath has planted redfish fry in 



SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



25 



two of these barren lakes, both discharging- their water into Bui'nctt 
Inlet. In 1894 and 1896, 1,000,000 redtish fry were planted each year 
in Burnett Lake, about 13 miles from the hatchery, and in 189.5, 
' 2,000,000 redtish fry were planted in Francis Lake, al)out 11 miles 
from the hatchery. The following coho fry haye been planted in 
Falls Creek, prey iously referred to: 1893,66,000; 1891,50,000; 1896, 
135,000; 1899, 60,00o' The rest of the hatchery output has been 
planted in the home lake and feeders. The fry are transported as 
soon after hatching as the weather permits and before the egg sac is 
absorbed, as the\' then require fewer changes of water. Coal-oil cans 
are used for transportation cans; a screw-top mouthpiece, l^-inch 
opening, is soldered to the top of the can and the fry are poured 
in through a funnel haying a large opening. A 5-gaIlon can will 
hold 30,000 redtish fry, or about 15,000 coho fry, and two such cans 
placed in the original case make a load for one man carried on the back 
with pack straps, and if the weather is cold, wu'apped in l)lankets. 

The following data, representing the output from this hatchery from 
July, 1892, to September, 1900, was furnished by Mr. Callbreath: 



REDFISH. 



Year. 


Number adults passed 
over dam. 


Total num- 
ber of fry 
hatched. 


Number of fry planted 
and locality. 


Males. 


Females. 


Hatchery 
lake. 


other 
lakes. 


1892 


1 3, 000 
13,010 
2, 438 
2,799 
1,617 
1,817 
1,189 
1,058 


(-) 
(-) 

2, 016 
2,497 
2, 008 
1, 572 
821 
1,175 


600, 000 
1, 888, 000 
4, 928, 000 
4, 960, 000 
3, 888, 000 
2,000,000 
1, 800. 000 
1,385,000 


600, 000 
1,888,000 
3, 928, 000 
2,960,000 
2, 780, 000 
2, 000, 000 
1,800,000 
1,385,000 




1893 




1894 


^1,000,000 


1895 


* 2, 000, 000 
ai, 100,000 


1896 


1897 




1898 




1899 










10, 918 


10, 089 


21, 441, 000 


17,341,000 


4, 100, 000 


1900 


1,991 


1,863 


None stripped: fish allowed to seek 
natural spawning beds. 




COHOES. 


Year. 


Number adults passed 
over dam. 


Total num- 
ber of fry 
hatched. 


Number of fry planted 
and locality. 


Males. 


Females. 


Home lake. ^S. 


1892 








1893 

1894 

1895 


1 1, 151 
2.56 
134 
374 
590 
158 
991 


230 
204 
338 
500 
142 
963 


416, 000 
363,000 
515,000 
510, 000 
526, 000 
250, 000 
950, 000 


350, 666 

313,000 
515,000 
375, 000 
526, 000 
2.50, 000 
850, 000 


66,000 
50, 000 


1896 

1897 


135, 000 


1898 




1899 


60, 000 






2, .503 


2, 377 


3, 530, 000 


3,219,000 [ 311,000 


1900 


,526 4S9 










natur 


al spawning 


beds. 



1 Both sexes; not included in total. sjsfQt tnown. ^ To Burnett Lake. -i To Francis Lake. 

In this record it should be remembered that the number of tish 
passed oyer the dam is not the number stripped. The number 
recoyered for spawning purposes yaries so much that no pei'centage 



26 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 

can be stated, and what becomes of those not stripped is a mystery to 
the hatchery people. For instance, in 1899 there were passed over the 
dam, between July 16 and October 26, 1,175 female and 1,058 male 
redtish, making- a total of 2,233; and from August 29 to November 14, 
963 female and 991 male cohoes, making* a total of 1,951; of this num- 
ber 1,367 redfish and 1,231 cohoes were recovered; this includes not 
onlj" all spawned tish, but all found dead along the shores after diligent 
and repeated search. 

The following experience at the hatchery may be of interest and 
worthy of record: On September 23, 1898, about 20 spawners were 
allowed to enter one of the hatchery ponds and spawn. On April 13, 
1899, nearly seven months later, these spawning beds were turned 
over and a number of the voung tish found with the egg sac not yet 
absorl)ed. The same run of tish stripped and hatched in the troughs 
had the egg sacs absorbed two months prior to that time. It is the 
opinion at the hatchery that the young go to sea in from ten to fifteen 
months after the}' are hatched, though some remain in the lake until 
they are from 20 to 21 months old, 

Mr. Callbreath is positive that his fish will return, but he now 
believes the time has not 3'et arrived for the first output to mature. 
It is earnestly hoped he may realize all he anticipates, for the zeal and 
enthusiasm which hedispla3^s should meet with ample reward. In the 
meantime he is carr3"ing on a very interesting experiment; if his fish 
return he will have demonstrated that salmon do return to the parent 
stream, he will have thrown much light on the age of fish, and he will 
have proved that a stream running a few fish can be made to j^ield 
abnormally. If this is demonstrated a law should be passed permitting 
the leasing of small streams for hatcher^' purposes and recognizing 
ownership in fish thus hatched. This would mean a great deal to south- 
eastern Alaska, as it would draw settlers who could make a very good 
living b\" operating a hatchery and cultivating the little patches of land 
that are favorably located. 

o 



LB S "Ob 



'^ 



